The present invention relates to a disposable diaper and more particularly to such a diaper provided with a sweat-absorbent sheet.
Disposable diapers of which the inner side adapted to come in contact with the wearer's skin is partially defined by a sweat-absorbent sheet has already been well known. In the case of a diaper disclosed, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-358099 (REFERENCE), a pair of end flaps respectively extend outward from longitudinally opposite ends of an absorbent assembly and respective inner surfaces of these end flaps are formed from water-repellent nonwoven fabric layers to which, in turn, sweat-absorbent sheets prepared separately of the water-repellent nonwoven fabric are bonded. As viewed in a vertical direction of the diaper put on the wearer's body, lower ends of the respective water-repellent nonwoven fabric layers overlap a liquid-pervious topsheet covering the absorbent assembly from the inner side.
The sweat-absorbent sheet used in the conventional disposable diaper is usually apt to come in close contact with the wearer's skin as the sweat-absorbent sheet is wetted with absorbed sweat. Consequentially, the sweat-absorbent sheet is apt to move together with the wearer's skin in the vertical direction as the wearer's skin moves relatively to the diaper. In addition, particularly in the case of the diaper as disclosed in REFERENCE, the water-repellent sheet to which the sweat-absorbent sheet is bonded is also apt to move in response to movement of the sweat-absorbent sheet. Depending on a manner in which the water-repellent sheet is bonded to the topsheet, the lower end of the water-repellent sheet may be folded upward with respect to the diaper and partially cover the lower end of the sweat-absorbent sheet. As a result, the surface area of the sweat-absorbent sheet expected to come in contact with the wearer's skin may be substantially reduced and it may be impossible for the sweat-absorbent sheet to exert the predetermined sweat absorbing ability.